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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s national non-oil exports (NODX) recovered 6.8% year-on-year in December, mainly due to an increase in shipments of non-electronic products such as specialized machinery and non-cash gold. Electronics also grew from a low base a year ago.
This is the first positive impression of NODX in three months andit comes after a 5 percent drop in November, official data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Monday (January 17).
Economists had expected a 0.3 percent increase, Reuters reported.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, exports increased 6.6 percent in December, extending the 3.7 percent increase from the previous month.
“The expansion of NODX in December paints an optimistic scenario for 2021,” said UOB economist Barnabas Gan.
“Singapore’s position in producing and supplying biomedical products and supplies, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic, will likely continue to lift manufacturing activities overall and support NODX over the next year,” he added.
INCREASE IN NON-ELECTRONIC SHIPPING
The December rally was driven by a 5% year-on-year increase in non-electronic shipments. This compares with the 5.3 percent drop for the segment in November.
Specialized machinery, which rose 30.9 percent, was one of the main contributors to the increase, followed by non-monetary gold (14.5 percent) and measuring instruments (21.4 percent).
In the electronics segment, shipments increased 13.7 percent year-on-year due to a low base in December 2019. This follows the 4 percent decline in November.
Integrated circuits, personal computer parts, and diodes and transistors were the biggest contributors to December shipments, up 15.7%, 33.8% and 16.5%, respectively.
SHIPPING BY COUNTRIES
Exports to Singapore’s main markets increased mainly in December, although exports to China, the European Union, Indonesia and Japan declined.
“The country breakdown of Singapore’s exports in December is curious reading,” said Robert Carnell, ING’s regional head of research for Asia-Pacific.
He noted that China, “despite its comparative global strength”, was one of the weakest destinations, registering a year-on-year decline of 27.5%.
On the other hand, the United States, reeling from COVID-19, saw a 52.5 percent increase in shipments from Singapore following the 9.5 percent growth in November. December growth was led by non-monetary gold, pharmaceuticals and measurement instruments.
“We probably need to look at another month or two of this data to make sense of this directional curiosity,” Carnell said.
Exports to South Korea grew 46.2 percent in December after a 9.7 percent decline in November, mainly due to specialized machinery, measuring instruments, and heating and cooling equipment.
Exports to Taiwan increased 14.8 percent in December, following an 8.7 percent increase in the previous month, due to integrated circuits, other specialty chemicals, and ship and boat structures.
Exports to emerging markets rose 28.3 percent in December, after falling 4 percent in the previous month.
South Asia (47.5%); Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (40.8%); and Latin America (21.5 percent) were the main markets responsible for this growth.
Total trade fell 0.3 percent in December on a year-over-year basis, following a 7.3 percent decline in the previous month. This was primarily due to oil trade, which continued to decline amid lower oil prices compared to the previous year, although it eased from the November contraction.
